Winter - Luck of the Draw

I've been receiving emails and reading blogs from our European artists.  Many of them are enduring a winter such as they have never experienced.  And I do wish them well and good luck bearing through their winter encounters.   It must be terrible having to cope with a situation like a freezing winter and feeling inadequately prepared.  My heart goes out to them.

However, I may have to soon move to Europe to enjoy the winter I am hoping for …..the attached picture is the amount of snow received here.


Standing with a store owner this morning at 5:30 we were debating which country could best use the services of a snowplow going down our road. Visualize this if you will - The snow in the middle of the road had been blown aside from passing traffic …. So there was no snow to be removed. Yet down the road goes this snowplow … hell bent for leather with a blade at least 7 to 8 feet wide and deeper than I am tall at 5’4”. But, yes we are prepared and waiting, oh, how I am waiting for snow!

They are snowed in to the north of here; roads are treacherous , snowed in to the east and west and south …. Even Buffalo is recovering for an avalanche of snow.  But no, in this little pocket of ‘banana belt’ where I live … this is it …. A half a dozen flakes.

And it is indeed the luck of the draw because I so appreciate fourteen feet of snow, howling arctic winds and –minus 20 to 30 degrees....or colder!

Perhaps on this side of the pond we know what challenges winter can blow in and we are well prepared. I have always delighted at being ‘snowed in’!

One of best ‘sleep overs’ with my children was when our hydro went down. We lit the cast iron Franklin stove in the recreation room and hauled out our camping cookware and sleeping bags. Meals were cooked on the stove top and coffee brewed. With a freezer full of food and plenty of firewood we hunkered down for the two day duration … and at night we curled in our sleeping bags, lit candles and by the firelight glow told ghost stories. Now who could ask for anything more!

My sister lived in the Bruce Peninsula area and for those of you who live near Highway 21 you will know what winters are like along the shores of Lake Huron. My brother-in-law had a backup generator which had occasions to use. One winter he had to climb out his window in order to clear snow from doorways. That same winter my niece took ill and the community organized a snowmobile run to take her to hospital as the snow plows were stuck and could not clear the roadways.   Although the run was abandoned when a nurse in the village, who couldn't get out to work, was found and she administered the medical aid needed. 

So to all you who are snowed in, I say take a moment to enjoy…in time to come you relish the memory of your ‘worst winter’ and relive the moments of being close together with others and sharing with those in need.  It is truly amazing the open armed assistance one will encounter during disastrous times ... and also amazing at how many lovely memories one can store up for remembrance.